A Dorchester man was charged yesterday with the kidnapping and rape of two women six years ago, the Suffolk County District Attorney's office and Boston Police report, adding they are continuing to look for a second man who allegedly participated in the attacks.

DNA collected from the victims matched Anwar Thomas's genetic samples last year, and investigators began looking into his connection with what were unsolved cases up to that point, the DA's office says.

Boston Police report they are looking for whoever smashed through a 100-year-old stained-glass window at Mission Church to steal the contents of two poor boxes.

The break, reported this morning at the Tremont Street basilica, meant the loss of $200 to $300 in donations, along with the cost of repairing the window and a small window inside the church, which was also broken, police say.

A federal appeals court today agreed with a jury that Boston Officer Jamie Pietroski used excessive force in 2002 during an arrest of a motorcyclist who didn't stop when Pietroski turned on his blue lights to make him pull over for failing to wear a helmet.

The United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit in Boston said that while Pietroski had probable cause to pull Matthew Raiche over after spotting him in Brigham Circle, he had absolutely no justification for pulling him off his motorcycle and twice slamming his head into the sidewalk, let alone for destroying Raiche's motorcyle.

Ross, who represents Mission Hill, and Mark Ciommo, who represents Allston and Brighton, want a City Council hearing to discuss how an estimated 60,000 students living off campus are driving up rents for permanent Boston residents. NorthEndWaterfront.com posts a copy of their hearing request - which warns that if current trends continue, another 45,000 students will be sucking apartments out of the pipeline by 2018.

This photo, from the ninth floor of Northeastern's Renaissance parking garage, doesn't really do it justice, but the Longwood Medical Area skyline (and Mission Church on Mission Hill) is really quite something. You can also get a dramatic view of the medical city from Fitzgerald Park on St. Alphonsus Street on Mission Hill.

Boston Police report officers' suspicions were aroused when they spotted two guys walking around Tremont and Parker streets with large bags filled with electronics and jewelery around 1:15 p.m. yesterday.

UPDATE No. 3: NStar is now telling the residents still without power they could get their power back by 6 p.m.

UPDATE ON THE UPDATE: NStar spokesman Michael Durand reports at 10:40 a.m.: "The outage began when an underground electrical switch failed, likely due to flooding in a manhole on Anita Terrace. 1,600 customers were originally affected beginning around 11pm. We restored power last night to all but 150 of those customers by rerouting power and installing a portable generator. We expect power to be restored to the remaining 150 customers in about an hour."

Police say a 50-year-old trying to run away from officers after burglarizing Mission Church attempted to lighten his load by discarding various items, including cash, stolen from the church.

Police say it didn't work: Officers managed to catch up with Timothy Carlson and arrest him on charges of breaking and entering in the nighttime, larceny over $250, possession of burglarious tools, assault and battery on a police officer, resisting arrest, trespassing, failure to register as a sex offender and a being a common and notorious thief.

Boston Police report an arrest in connection with a scheme in which Bostonians would be called and ordered to pay ransom for kidnapped relatives - who turned out not to be kidnapped:

In all of the incidents, victims are contacted via phone and told that a relative has been kidnapped; money is then demanded for the safe release of the alleged kidnapping victim. The specific details of these incidents vary; however, almost all of the victims have been Hispanic.

Victims were ordered to use Wester Union to wire money to the "kidnapper," police say.

Boston Police report a pair of allegedly inebriated college students learned early this morning that most people don't appreciate having them break into their apartment and ransack it. Also, the roof of the Stop & Shop is not the best place to hide from police, especially not after you call your bud, who is in the process of being arrested, and blurt out where you are.